WARNING: This article references sexual assault allegations and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone impacted by it.
The first sexual assault trial for Frank Stronach is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Toronto but may be delayed, the billionaire businessman’s lawyer said.
On Monday evening, Leora Shemesh told CBC News that they plan to ask Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy to put the trial off for a few days due to additional pretrial motions.
The morning docket remains the same, with Stronach and his lawyer still expected to appear in court starting around 10 a.m. ET before asking for the delay.
The 93-year-old is accused of sexual offences against several women, with some of the allegations dating back nearly 50 years.
Stronach, founder of auto-parts giant Magna International, faces 12 charges, including sexual assault and forcible confinement. Two of the counts, rape and attempted rape, are considered historical charges as they were abolished when the Criminal Code was amended in 1983 to create the offence of sexual assault.
The allegations by seven complainants span the period between 1977 and 1990 in Toronto, one specified as having happened in suburban Scarborough.
There is no statute of limitations in Canada of indictable offences (more serious ones such as sexual assault, murder and kidnapping), which means someone could potentially face trial years or decades later.
The women’s names and anything that could identify them are protected under a publication ban.
He’s also set to face a separate trial in Newmarket later this year after the case was split into two proceedings.
Stronach has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trial is before a judge alone
Arrested in June 2024, Stronach was initially charged with five sexual-related offences, with the counts rising to 18 involving a total of 13 complainants across Ontario.
Stronach, an Order of Canada recipient, stepped down as Magna’s chair in 2011. Born in Austria, he became one of Canada’s wealthiest people as founder of the auto-parts giant in the 1950s.
He also founded the Stronach Group, one of the biggest industry names in horse racing, owning and operating thoroughbred tracks including Santa Anita Park in California.
Magna and the Stronach Group have said he no longer has any involvement with the companies’ operations.
For the Toronto proceedings, four weeks have been set aside. Initially, Stronach chose a trial by jury, then switched to one with a judge alone, meaning Molloy will hear the case without a jury and eventually decide his fate.
A noted case overseen by Molloy involved Alek Minassian, charged in the van attack in suburban Toronto in 2018. Three years later, Molloy found him guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.
The prosecutors in the Stronach case are assistant Crown attorneys Jelena Vlacic and Julia Bellehumeur.
Shemesh, a prominent criminal lawyer, previously represented Toronto city Coun. Michael Thompson. He was found not guilty in September of sexually assaulting two women at a Muskoka cottage.
In the Newmarket proceedings, Stronach will face six sexual assault charges involving six complainants — one of those charges dates back to 1988, with two charges as recent as April 2023 and February 2024. That case is being tried in the town about 50 kilometres north of Toronto as the alleged assaults are said to have occurred in York Region, including Aurora, where Magna International’s head office is located.
Civil case separate from trials
Separate from the trials, Stronach faces a civil lawsuit by Jane Boon, who’s seeking over $4 million and punitive damages. Boon isn’t a complainant in either sexual assault trial.
In her civil case, she’s alleged Stronach sexually assaulted her in December 1986 while she was a 19-year-old intern at his company.
None of the allegations in the civil case or the criminal cases have been proven in court.
Shortly after his arrest nearly two years ago, Stronach was interviewed by CBC’s the fifth estate and denied the accusations, saying they “are lies.”
“We have a lot of data which totally will prove those things are lies,” Stronach told host Mark Kelley at the time.
“But I feel sorry for the women that made those charges.”
He also said he believed the women were looking for a payout.
Late in 2024, CBC News interviewed one of the women complainants.
She said she was 20 years old in 1980 when she was invited to a party at a Toronto bar owned by Stronach at the time.
According to the woman, Stronach assaulted her on the dance floor and she later woke up in a waterfront apartment bedroom with no knowledge about how she got there or where her clothes were. She said she could see her face in the ceiling, and that Stronach was on top of her, raping her.
Possible challenges in historical cases
Adam Weisberg is a defence lawyer in Toronto who is not involved in Stronach’s trials.
When it comes to historical charges, the accused will face a charge based on its wording at the time and the defences that were available back then, he told CBC News.
He said things can get complicated at a trial today if the evidence and procedures are based on charges dating back to the ’70s, for instance.
“The procedural aspects of the case will apply with modern-day rules of evidence and procedure.”
As for possible challenges facing the trial, Weisberg said the Crown will have to contend with the fact memories may change over time, be influenced by external factors and fade.
He said added that some evidence may be long gone. I
“So both sides face challenges in being able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and being able to bring your best defence with all the evidence you might have had.”
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
